Vietnam beach town encroaches sea for $50 mln tourism complex

A truck pours rock into the sea for the foundation of an aquarium project in Vung Tau, October 10, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Khoa.

A tourism company has begun land reclamation on a Vung Tau beach for a VND1.1 trillion ($50 million) tourism project following authorities’ approval.

Over the past few days, the Vung Tau Cable Car Tourism JSC has created thousands of square meters of land on Bai Truoc (Front Beach) beach area to construct a resort complex that includes a cable car and an aquarium.

The seven-hectare Hong Nguu complex, which plans to receive 3,000 - 5,000 visitors a day, will encroach 200 meters into the sea.

It will consist of two areas. In Zone A, a 22-storey five-star hotel will be built, along with restaurants and sea sports facilities. In Zone B, there will be an aquarium, a beach area and a manmade swimming pool.

The $50 million project is scheduled to be completed by 2023.

The history of the project goes way back to 1998 when the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province approved an urban plan for 22 hectares in the Bai Truoc area, of which 10 hectares were reserved for a tourist complex, including an aquarium.

In 2003, the province gave the Vung Tau Cable Car Tourism JSC the rights to use more than 67,000 square meters of what is a special-use water surface area. The province allowed the company to take the land on a 50-year lease.

Last year, province approved the Hon Nguu aquarium project, and earlier this year, its environmental impact assessment report. In August this year, the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Department of Construction issued a construction permit.

A blue print of a tourism and aquarim complex that will enroach 200 meters into the sea in Vung Tau. Photo courtesy of Vung Tau Cable Car Tourism JSC.

Mai Trung Hung, deputy director of the department, said the project has completed all legal procedures and in appraising the project, the department has done a thorough job, keeping in mind that the area on which the project will be built is very sensitive, as it will affect the landscape of the Front Beach.

"We consulted lots of people from different sides during the planning review," Hung said, adding that the construction will naturally generate certain impacts on several things and that the department has weighed the pros and cons.

He said the project will serve the city's residents and tourists, adding that the plan was devised by the province, not the investor.

"I see that this project does not cost anything. The building is constructed by exploiting the sea, which is in accordance with the general urban planning approved by the prime minister," he added.

Dau The Anh, general director of the company building the complex, said construction of the aquarium would not affect the sea flow or any buildings nearby.

Although work has begun and cement is being dumped into the sea to create its foundation, he maintained: "I am subscribing to, listening to and ready to talk to anyone with a contrarian view."